Like Father Like Daughter
by blakelakebake
Summary: Bailey Stark was abandoned by her mother on the door steps of Tony Stark's Malibu Mansion, who happens to be her father. Without a single clue in parenthood and having a bad father figure, Tony must raise a child - with the help of Pepper Potts - through sarcasm, remarks, a little bit of alcohol, and love. Book One of The Bailey Stark Chronicles (Iron Man 1 and 2)
1. Prologue

_~March 7th 2000~_

Tony Stark didn't expect a knock on the front door of his Malibu Mansion, especially around two o'clock in the morning. Fortunately, he was awake and busy working on a few projects in his lab to hear J.A.R.V.I.S inform him of a hooded woman outside his door.

"She appears to be placing a basket down, sir." The A.I. as Tony was slowly approaching the door. He raised an eyebrow at the information.

"Is she still there?"

"No; she walked away after leaving the basket." The billionaire hummed in response, throwing away a cloth that he just finished using to wipe his hands. He finally made it to the door, but hesitated, not sure if he should open the door and check or figure a way to get rid of it as it might contain something dangerous.

"Do a scan on what's inside the basket." Tony waited for a few seconds, his mind coming up with hundreds of different scenarios before being interrupted by J.A.R.V.I.S. with unexpected news.

"There's a baby inside the basket, underneath a blanket." Feeling shocked was an understatement, as Tony's eyes widened and he reluctantly opened the door, which indeed revealed a wooden basket with something underneath a pink blanket.

The CEO stared at the basket, frozen in his spot. He didn't understand a single bit on who that hooded woman was and why in the world she would leave a child -_a child - _to be taken care of by someone who already has a lot on his plate - work wise of course.

Eventually, after staring at the basket for what seems like hours, he bent down and picked the basket up. Tony took in a deep breath, his fingers on the corner of the pink blanket, not knowing what to expect, before exhaling and peeled the material to reveal a tiny baby with a folded piece of paper on the baby.

Tony took a sharp breath in when he saw the features of the baby. He couldn't believe it, the baby looks exactly like his own mother when she was a baby.

_No._

_No, it can't be._

He looked around to find a chair, which luckily was only a few meters away, and he placed the basket gently on top of the chair, grabbing the piece of paper whilst doing so.

Tony looked at it for only a little bit before unfolding it and seeing a few lines of scribbled words and a some ink smudges. He raised an eyebrow at it but ignored it so that he could read what's been written.

_Dear Tony,_

_I'm leaving you our child since I believe that you'll be able to look after her and keep her safe. Sorry for the inconvenience._

_She also doesn't have a name yet since I think you'd prefer to name her, and she was born a week ago on February 29th._

_I hope you the best._

The CEO looked at the letter with disbelief all over his face. _A baby? _Correction: _His baby? _He quickly looked at the sleeping baby, then back to the letter, then back to the baby. He still couldn't believe it, though. A week old baby, which he didn't know about for more than nine months until now.

Whilst the information was still being processed in his mind, Tony shoved the letter into his pocket and gently grabbed the basket, walking slowly and as quietly to his lab, not wanting to wake up _his own child._

When getting into the lab, he place the basket on top of a metal table before going to his computer.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" He whispered, briefly looking at the still sleeping baby in the basket.

"Yes, sir?"

"Can you run a check on the baby to see if she really is my child?"

"Certainly, sir." The billionaire then took a seat next to the baby as he looked at her properly; she had the same mouth and nose as him, and the same skin colour, but he wondered what colour were her eyes, just to see.

Whilst waiting for the A.I. to finish checking if the baby is his, Tony moved a little bit closer to the basket and as gently as he could, stroked the baby's soft cheek. A ghost of a smile was creeping onto his face, but was gone within a second after Tony realised it.

"The baby is yours, sir." Tony jumped from J.A.R.V.I.S.' voice, cursing quietly. Just then, he finally processed the A.I.'s sentence and quickly stood up to go straight to his computer. He checked the information that his A.I just found, just to double check. Sure enough, the baby's his.

He looked at the screen, mouth open, eyes wide and his fingers twitching from the need of having a bottle of alcohol in his hand. He quickly went out of the lab, looking for the first bottle of any type of booze he can get his hands on, which was an unopened Bailey in a box with a bow on top of it.

_Perfect, _Tony thought, ripping the box open and open the bottle of Bailey, gulping a third of it down whilst walking back into his lab. He abruptly sat down onto the same chair he was sitting on a fe minutes ago, forgetting that there was a baby next to him.

Unfortunately, the noise he made woke the baby up, in which she began crying loudly, causing Tony to jump out of his seat and leaving the now half empty bottle of Bailey on the side.

Tony started panicking, looking around to see if there was anything that could help, but he didn't know if there was anything to help in this situation. So, he did the first thing that he hoped would work: cradle the baby.

And with that, he carefully picked up the crying baby and cautiously held the baby against his chest, shushing it. She eventually calmed down, making Tony let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding.

He was about to lower back into the basket but stopped when the baby began to move her tiny hands towards the Bailey bottle. Stark raised his eyebrow, questioning the baby's intentions before placing her into the basket.

Just then, it hit him.

_Bailey._

"That's it!" He whispered, a smile being plastered onto his face. He looked back down at his baby, his eyes softening from the view of how peaceful the baby looked.

"How about Bailey? Yeah, I'll call you Bailey." He chuckled to himself, slowly feeling warmth in his chest. "Bailey Stark. Huh, has a nice ring to it." And that's when he silently promised to himself that he won't become like his own dad, that he'll bring up _his Bailey _to be better.

"Hope you don't become an alcoholic, kid."

* * *

**So! I'm new to this Marvel fandom so I'm really sorry if I got a few of my facts wrong, BUT I did do tons of research whilst writing this just to make sure I got some info right, and yeah. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a comment and some constructive criticism, thanks!**


	2. Chapter 1: Nine Years Later

_~ February 11th 2009~_

"It's nine."

"But it said two?"

"Well, I'm smart so I say nine."

"But I thought it was two!"

Tony sighed in frustration at his eight-year-old daughter, his face in his hand whilst Bailey's arms were crossed. He couldn't believe himself; arguing with a child about her own birthday cake and what age should they put on it, since Bailey was born on a leap day, which always causes a bit of a disagreement between the two on exactly how and when they should celebrate her birthday. Due to it coming in a few weeks, Tony was already stressed out with organising his daughter's birthday party before he leaves in a few days to Kabul.

Initially, he was supposed to go to the demonstration of the Jericho missile system during Bailey's birthday, but - with a lot of convincing - he changed the date so that it would be before and that he would be able to attend his own daughter's birthday.

On the outside, Tony was getting irritated at his daughter's antics, but on the inside, he was amused. The entertainment he was getting whilst watching Bailey groan and roll her eyes reminded him of himself, of course, making him feel prouder for what - in his opinion - is a great job at parenting.

"How about this, kid," Tony began as he bends down to Bailey's height, his hand gently touching her shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "We get you _two _cakes with both the number two _and _eight. How's that?"

In response, Bailey gave him a raised eyebrow before squealing and giggling and hugging her dad around the neck. Tony rolled his eyes but but hugged her back, ruffling her hair when they let go at each other, which earned his another giggle and a playful slap on his hand to stop the ruffling of the hair.

Tony then stood up with Bailey grasping onto his hand as they walked out of her room and into the kitchen. They were immediately greeted by Pepper who was already sat on a kitchen stool with a tablet in hand.

"Pepper!" Bailey exclaimed as she released her dad's hand and ran towards the assistant, who happily wrapped her arms around the little girl.

"Hey, Bailey." Pepper smiled at her fondly before helping her up into a stool, a plate filled with pancakes, strawberries and blueberries on top of it was placed in front of the brown-haired girl.

"Thanks, Pep!" Bailey grinned at Pepper before digging into her food, completely forgetting that her dad is still there, shaking his head at her.

"Thanks for leaving me for food, kid." Tony said with a fake tone of sadness. In response, Bailey shrugged at him, still casually eating her pancakes.

"Love you too, old man."

"Who're you calling an old man?" Bailey looked around the room, pretending to be thinking.

"I don't see anyone else that is."

"Wow, how nice of you to say that."

"You're welcome."

Tony rolled his eyes at his daughter. He then went up to her and stole a blueberry, earning himself a _'Hey!' _from Bailey, letting out a satisfying hum as Bailey huffed in irritation.

Pepper looked between the two Starks, a headache already forming as she watched her boss and his daughter bicker with each other like kids. _Well, at least one of them is. _

"Mr. Stark," Tony's head snapped towards his personal assistant, who was still looking at her tablet. "It's ten-thirty in the morning and Mr. Stane is coming over in half an hour."

Tony groaned, but nodded anyways before helping Bailey down from her seat when she finished her plate and walked with her to his lab.

* * *

He could hear her groans of frustration from behind as he continues on repairing one of the parts of the missiles. He chuckled at this, amusement taking over as he turns around to see his daughter on the verge of throwing a tantrum on yet another failed robot.

Tony shakes his head, his arms crossed as he leaned back, watching Bailey pout at the robot in front of her.

"Need any help, kid?" Said kid turned around to look at her dad with puppy eyes and her lips pursed even more than before. Tony rolled his eyes, but proceeded to go over to her, much to her excitement.

As he came over, Bailey moved to the side a bit to give him some space to share whilst he inspects her robot. Tony bent down, his eyes narrowing as he examines the thing in front of him for a bit before asking his daughter for some tools, in which she complied and obviously handed him the correct ones.

He began fixing the small robot, every once in a while showing the little brunette some of the parts she missed out - such as a mini solar panel to charge the batteries - and even let her do it herself a few times. Eventually, they were almost finished, with only one more adjustment to the wiring that Tony was trying to show Bailey.

"You see that?" Tony pointed towards a short red wire, Bailey nodding when immediately seeing the entanglement. "All you need to do is gently take it out of its circuit, undo the twisting, and then plug the wire back in." He then guided his daughter's hand towards the wire, helping her with pulling the wire out of its socket and letting her undo it from its twist before helping her again with putting it in.

As Bailey reattached the red wire back, her little robot suddenly came to life, making R2-D2-like noises. This sudden action caused Bailey to squeal from both shock and excitement whilst she jumped up and down on her seat, making her dad chuckle at her.

"So," Tony patted Bailey's shoulder gently before ruffling her hair. "What do you want to call it?"

Bailey looked at the robot, titling her head with a thoughtful look. Surprisingly, the robot did the same, but had its arms stretched out towards her, making her giggle and picking the robot up and putting it on her shoulder. It immediately sat down on her shoulder right after.

"I wanna call him Ultron!" The robot makes a noise that indicates that he agrees, in which made Bailey smile widely. However, Tony just looked at his daughter with a raised eyebrow.

"Ultron? Seriously?" She nodded enthusiastically at her dad.

"Yep!"

"Why not... I don't know... F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" The little girl's face turned into a disgusted and unsatisfied look. Tony sighed at this.

"Alright, alright. Jeez, and I thought I was bad at naming things."

"And you still are, Dad."

"Hey, hey. Who's the genius in the family?"

"Obviously not you."

"Why you-"

"Well I quite like the name." Both Stark's turned their heads towards the voice, both having mixed reactions when seeing the one and only Obadiah Stane. For Tony, he gave his business partner a friendly smile, whereas Bailey glared at him, a frown taking over her face.

"Obie! Didn't expect you to be here." The CEO walked up to his partner, hugging him quickly before retracting. However, his daughter remained seated, her glare never seemed to fade away. Obadiah ignores this though, and chuckled at the older Stark.

"Well I did send a message to Ms. Potts about my arrival."

"Must've slipped my mind."

"Hm, and hopefully an award ceremony has not _slipped your mind _by any chance?"

"Uh... You see..."

Obadiah sighed, shaking his head before looking at Tony seriously. "You've got to stop avoiding things and start showing up, Tony."

In return, Tony shrugs. "I'll attend tonight."

Stane's eyes narrowed. "You sure?"

"Positively."

"You can just tell me if you're not, you know."

"And I won't because I will be attending."

Another sigh escaped Obadiah's lips. "Fine. But do text me if you were to ever chicken out or not attend."

Tony gave him a salute as his business partner began walking out of the lab. "Will do."

When Stane was finally gone, Tony turned around to face Bailey, only to be met by an upset little girl.

"Are you really going to attend?" She poured dramatically, her eyes brimming with tears. Tony chuckled, placing his hand gently on the eight-year-old's shoulder.

"And miss out on all the fun we're going to have tonight? Nope." And with that, Bailey grinned at her dad, hugging him tightly, which he gladly returned, but with a less painful grasp.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, kid."

"I still don't like Stane."

* * *

"That son of a bitch." Obadiah growled as he read the message Tony sent to him. Apparently he's _'busy' _with some _'project' _he's doing. Obviously the whole message written out 'BULLSHIT' across it, which seemed to anger Stane even more.

He shook his head, putting his phone back into his pocket before putting up a mask of calm and happiness as the screens showed Tony Stark and a brief summary about him.

Just then, Jim Rhodes came on stage with a trophy in hand, smiling.

"As Program Manager and Liaison to Stark Industries, I've had the honour of serving with a real patriot," Obadiah inwardly snorted at this. "A man whose life has been dedicated to protecting our troops on the front lines. He's a friend. And a great mentor. A man who has always been there for his friends and his country. Ladies and gentlemen, this year's ARES Award winner - Mr. Tony Stark."

Everyone started clapping loudly, only to have the volume lowered when Stark's business partner awkwardly goes up on stage.

"Thank you..." He cleared his throat as he looked nervously at the crowd. "I, uhhh, I'm not Tony Stark," This made a few people chuckle. "But if I were Tony, I'd tell you how honoured I am and...what a joy it is to receive this award."

Obadiah then takes a deep breath, an excuse immediately coming into mind, knowing full well that he was most definitely _not _doing what Obadiah is about to say.

"The best thing about Tony is also the worst thing - he's always working."

* * *

"WOOOOOOOOO!" The Stark's went down the water slide quickly, their hands up in the air as they were thrusted into the water, a loud splash coming from both of them.

"That was fun!" Bailey exclaimed as she came back up the surface a few seconds after the splash, laughing and squealing as her dad put her on his shoulder.

"Wanna do it again?"

"Why are you even asking, old man?" Tony groaned at the horrible nickname and sarcastic remark that his very own daughter gave towards him, no doubt that part coming from his side. But, he reluctantly ignored the comment and carefully went out of the pool with Bailey still on his shoulders as he walks back up to the top of the water slide, this time with two boards for him and Bailey.

When they went down the water slide again, Tony noticed a familiar figure coming into vision, but before he could say or do anything, Tony crashed into the water with a gasp and a '_Shit!'._

Rhodey shook his head at this, even though there was a smile plastered on his face. He still couldn't believe that a full grown businessman is still capable of doing childish activities with _and actual child._

_At least Bailey has an excuse. Tony on the other hand..._

Rhodey chuckled, witnessing Bailey going onto Tony's shoulders and him having to carry her out of the pool with him, much to her amusement.

"My God," Tony started whilst wrapping a towel around his daughter first before proceeding to grab one for himself. "They roped you into this thing too?"

Rhodey nodded in return. "Yeah. They said you'd be deeply honoured if I presented." Tony snorted, putting the towel around his waist while helping his daughter dry off.

"Okay lets do it." His friend then proceeded to take out the ARES awards trophy and placed it into Tony's hands.

"That was quick. Thought there'd be more of, you know, a ceremony. Maybe a highlight reel-" He was interrupted by a pull on his hand, making him looked down to see Bailey leaning against him sleepily.

Sighing, Tony picked her up and allowed her to sleep on his shoulder.

"Tony," Rhodey whispered, grabbing Tony's attention immediately. "You know you're leaving tomorrow to Afghanistan, right?" In response, he shrugged, walking back into the house, Rhodey following behind him.

They stopped at Bailey's room, where Tony gently placed her on her bed and putting her blanket on top of her. They got out of her room, quietly closing the door before walking into the living room, both of them sitting on couches that were facing opposite of each other, where they began bickering about the Jericho missile system.

* * *

_~February 12th 2009~_

"He forgot, didn't he?"

"I'm sorry." Pepper sighed at the brunette's response, shaking her head at how Bailey was pouting and continuously apologising for something the other Stark did.

"It's alright Bailey, since it's not even the first time."

"But it's your birthday! Everyone should remember!" Bailey whined loudly, stomping her feet and having her arms crossed, in which Pepper laughed at this action.

"It's fine, Bailey. At least you remembered." The little girl smiled widely, holding her hand out as if to say that she wanted to get picked up, to which Pepper complied.

"Of course I remembered! It's your birthday after all and you deserve to be spoilt like me." Bailey grinned proudly, pointing at herself, making Pepper laugh even more.

"Thanks, sweetie."

"Anytime Pepperoni." The assistant smiled at the little girl, hugging her and happy to know that Tony's done a good job.

"BAILEY!" Both the girls jumped at Tony's voice echoing around the living, the elevator door opening to reveal Tony in a suit with an expensive suitcase in hand.

Bailey was then let down gently by Pepper, running towards her dad and hugging him tightly.

"Do you really have to go?" She looked up, pouting. Tony sighed, ruffling her hair.

"Sorry kid, but you know how work is." She nodded, sadness written all over her face.

"Promise me you'll come back?"

"I promise, kid."

"You sure?"

"I'll even bring back a souvenir." She giggled, nodding her head enthusiastically before hugging her dad even tighter than before.

"I love you, old man."

"Love you too, Ale."

* * *

**SOOOOOOO I hope you enjoyed this chapter and skskssksk I'm kind of trying to stick to canon a little bit? but like, still trying to twist it around without making it too unrealistic and stuff. But other than that, yeah, I'll try to post as fequently as I can.**


	3. Chapter 2: A Wild, Missing Tony

_~February 13th 2009~_

In the hummer, Back in Black by AC/DC was playing loudly on a CD player in the middle of it. Three airmen were inside it, looking at each other whilst looking back at the man in an expensive suit, a drink tumbler of vodka in hand. The man, Tony Stark, looked back at them with suspicion and confusion with a raised eyebrow.

"I feel like you're driving me to a court-martial, this is crazy. What'd I do?" He jokingly said. Unfortunately, no one spoke. Behind his glasses, he rolled his eyes.

"I feel like you're going to pull over and snuff me." He took another sip from his glass.

"What, you're not allowed to talk?" He then looked at the soldier next to him. "Hey, Forrest!"

"We can talk, sir."

"Oh," Tony looked out the window quickly, looking back a second later. "I see. So it's personal?"

"No, you intimidate them." The driver, surprisingly a female, spoke up. Tony looked at her with slight shock.

"Good God, you're a woman." He lowers his drink from his mouth. "I honestly... I couldn't have called that." Tony quickly realised that his comment might've been offensive.

"I mean, I'd apologise, but isn't that what we're going for here?" The soldier next to him and in front began to smile.

"I thought of you as a soldier first."

"I'm an airman." The woman smiled slightly whilst trying to sound professional.

"You have, actually, excellent bone structure, there." He titled his head slightly, looking at the woman's jaw before continuing to joke. "I'm kind of having a hard time not looking at you now. Is that weird?" Soon enough, everyone started laughing, making Tony smile a bit for having the soldiers - _airmen - _loosen up a bit.

"Come on, it's okay, laugh." Tony said to the airman in front of him who's trying to hold his laugh.

"Sir," The airman in front of him immediately caught his attention. "I have a question to ask."

"Yes, please."

"First, is it true you went 12 for with last year's Maxim cover models?"

"That is an excellent question." Tony proceeded to take off his glasses. "Yes and no. March and I had a scheduling conflict, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins." The CEO gave the soldier in front a small smile before his face turned back to its mutual mask.

"Any other question?"

"Sir," The driver began. "There's been news about how your daughter helped you with planning this project." This made Stark raise an eyebrow. "Just wondering, how old is she and how come she isn't with us?"

Tony paused for a second, coming up with a way to answer the question. "Well, you see, she's eight- technically nine in a couple of weeks - and she couldn't come because unfortunately I can't bring a child to a dangerous place."

The airmen nodded at his answer, both impressed by the brains of the his daughter but also understanding about why she wasn't there.

"Anything else?" The airman next to him immediately raised his hand up. "You're kidding me with the hand up, right?" The airman then lowered his hand.

"Is it cool if I take a picture with you?" Tony inwardly smirked at this.

"Yes, it's very cool." Tony replied sarcastically. The airman then moved to sit next to him whilst passing his camera to the man in front.

"I don't want to see this on your MySpace page." The airman just smiled and puts up a peace sign. "Please, no gang signs." The airmen face slightly dropped as he slowly puts away the peace sign.

"No, throw it up. I'm just kidding." Tony almost chuckled as the guy puts his hand up again with a more hesitant smile. Tony began to feel irritated as the airman in front of him took his time to change the settings.

"Come on, hurry up. Just click it. Don't change any settings." And with that, just before he did, a sudden explosion happened in front of their vehicle, with all the heads snapping to the front to see that the hummer driving ahead of them was on fire.

The vehicle stopped, guns prepared and the two airmen in the front seat got out, the airman next to Tony was forced to stay and protect him. Unfortunately, the two airmen were instantly killed.

"Son of a bitch!" The airman next to Tony swore loudly as he loaded his gun and was about to go out.

"Wait, wait, wait!" The CEO began panicking. "Give me a gun!" His voice filled with desperation and worry, but the airman simply ignored his request and was already out of the vehicle.

"Stay here!" He turned around, ready to shoot until multiple fire killed him instantly.

Tony looked around, his ears ringing and his heavy breathing was the only thing that was audible for him. He looked out of the front window, seeing the rest of the airmen killed instantly with no lives left. So, without knowing what else to do, he quickly got out and ran.

explosions were happening left and right, Stark narrowly missing every one of them before jumping behind a rock as a missile began to come his way. Luckily he missed it. Guns were still shooting at him as he took out his phone, frantically texting Pepper about his situation, only to have a _Stark Industries _missile hit the ground next to him.

His eyes widened at his company's very own name, but before he could even run when he stood, the missile exploded, causing to fly a few meters away.

He landed with a thud, his head dizzy, but a realisation sobered him up as he felt blood rushing out of his body and something sharp in his chest. He looked down to see that blood was indeed rushing out of his body since it was expanding on his white shirt.

Ripping off his shirt, it revealed that a shrapnel was in his chest, underneath the body armour he thankfully wore. Slowly, from the amount of blood loss, his vision began to get blurry, his breathing becoming harder to control and gradually, he closed his eyes, meeting with the dark abyss underneath his eyelids with the thoughts of Bailey in his thoughts as he lost consciousness.

* * *

Bailey was sitting on the couch in the lounge, her head place on her hands as she watched the clock slowly pass the time her dad was supposed to be home.

She sighed, a frown appearing on her face as she came up with excuses for him on why he wasn't on the time like he said he would.

A knock on the door brought her out of her miserable train of thought. The little brunette turned around to see a sulking Pepper at the door. The girl tilted her head in confusion, before standing up and walking - albeit hesitantly - towards the ginger assistant.

"Is everything alright?" The grimace on Pepper's face gave her the answer straight away, worry building up in her stomach.

"What is-"

"Your dad's been kidnapped." Bailey froze.

_Wait._

_What?_

"How did that happen?" Pepper closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before taking Bailey back to the couch and told her briefly on what happened. Well, from what she heard.

Unsurprisingly, Bailey didn't take this well and began pulling a tantrum, shouting on how her dad should've been more careful and how he's an idiot and how he's going to break their promise. She eventually cooled down, though, slumping herself into Pepper's arms as she stroke her hair gently, calming the little girl a bit more.

"I miss him." Bailey quietly said after a few minutes of silence. Pepper sighed, kissing the girl's head.

"He'll be back soon." Bailey looked up.

"Are you sure?"

"...Depends."

* * *

**SOOOOOOOOO I know the ending seemed a bit rushed but since I have to revise for my super duper important exams that I am totally studying for, I have to make this chapter a bit more like a filler than a big ass chapter which I intentionally wanted to do, but oof really sorry about that. ANYWAYS, I'll try my best to upload the part two next week, or maybe as soon as I can just for you guys, andddddd I might be able to have tons of more time to upload a lot more after next week. And yeah, hope you guys enjoyed this and ssksksslslslslslksksksk SEE YOU NEXT TIME!**


	4. Chapter 3: An Extinct Stark Found

**A/N: Bit more Bailey centric, and I can't be asked to write so much about Tony's time in kidnapped-land since most of us already know what happened so yeet, gotta deal with it guys. Also, sorry about the big ass delay, I finally finished my GCSEs (exams us UK peeps have to do at the end of year 11, if you didn't already know) and have been given a whole day of doing nothing after a few days of constant outings and shopping with friends and family, so now I'm back with no homework nor any revision to do and will be posting as much as I can. So yeah, ENJOY THIS CHAPTER Y'ALL! OH AND COMMENT YOUR OPINIONS AND STUFF CUS I NEED CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM AND MOTIVATION DUE TO MY LAZY ASS NOT BEING TO DO ANYTHING ON TIME! ENJOYYYYY!**

_**Warning: angst if you squint or if you're sensitive, and a bit of change in the canon stuff, so beware if some of it ain't accurate since it was changed to fit with the scenery.**_

_~February 18th 2009~_

_Screams, bloodshot eyes, dried blood from the neck down to the waist. Strange figures with tools, a white lab coat, glasses, a circular metal, a white cloth on top of his body, continuous screams throughout. Vision blurry, no escape, stuck, cold and hard metal table, blue lights, hard to breathe, something being pushed into his chest, wires dangling._

_No focus, can't focus, too much pressure, not enough oxygen, pain stretching across- Why is there a hole in the chest? No way of knowing, too blurry to see. Red, blue, white - a lot of white, too much blue, red on white, red on skin. _

_More screams, but this time coming out of his mouth. Sounds of sirens, explosions, clanking of glass, people talking, muffled words, muffled screams, muffled heart beat, muffled gunshots._

_Flashbacks - flashbacks? - of a vehicle in the air, fire everywhere. Music played quietly in the background. The lab coats are back, cotton on stick, in hand, touching his chest, a hole, slowly filled with a metal, with wires stuck inside him._

_Blue, white, red, white, red, blue, red, white, blue, white, red, blue, white, blue, red-_

_Cloth. In hand. On mouth. Calmness. Mouth open. Calmness. Closed eyes. Removal of cloth. In hand. Away from mouth._ _Calmness..._

_Calmness..._

_Calmness..._

_Calmness..._

_Calmness.._

Darkness.

* * *

Coughing; that was the first thing Tony did when waking up. His eyes were wide as he watched the dust come out of his mouth. Oxygen slowly coming into his lungs as the dizziness gradually went away, his mind more aware of what's going on.

Then, he noticed - Something was in his nose. A tube with tape around it to stay on his nose, making it uncomfortable. So without a thought, Tony started to pull the tube out of his nose, a surge of pain rushing to it as more of the tube was coming out of his body, covered with mucous and blood and sticky liquid.

"Agh, fuck." He puffed out another dusty breath. Looking to the side, he tried to reach for something, he didn't know what, but he continued to try to reach it.

Tony then saw a figure a few meters away from him, standing in front of a small mirror, shaving his now clean chin. He looked at the suited man for a bit before trying to reach for thing in front of him. Unfortunately, he was stopped by something pulling him back and a metal moving.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." the man said with a slight accent in his tone. He stopped shaving and looked at Tony. The bearded man moved back to his original position, his head shifting to the car battery on the side, a few wires on its side.

His brown eyes followed the wires; from the car battery to it being underneath his cloth-covered chest. Panic flowed through his bloodstream as sweat began to cover his forehead, his shaking hands trying to rip the cloth.

The cloth was gradually ripped off, layer by layer as a sudden pain stretched across his chest, the feeling of energy powering his body. He couldn't handle it, the prodigious feeling that invaded his entire being. No he couldn't.

Finally, he fully ripped all the layers of the material, revealing his sort-of-robot-like chest, a hole in the middle, covered by the car battery wires and a circular machinery, stuck on his chest, metal all around it.

Panting, Tony looked at it, disbelief all across his face. No, he definitely couldn't handle it. He doesn't think he ever will.

* * *

"He can't be missing."

"Bailey..." The little girl looked at the bald man towering her, brown eyes piercing through the man. Stane sighed. "Look, Bailey-"

"There's no body." She finalised before stomping into her dad's lab, slamming the door as hard as I can before instructing J.A.R.V.I.S. to not allow anyone in unless it's Pepper.

She couldn't handle it, of course, she was still young, but she was old enough to know that her denial isn't naivety - after all, she is a Stark. Sighing, she slumped on her dad's stool, looking at all the reports on the screens around her, only understanding half of it.

Every single one of them had the words 'STARK MISSING' written across the top. Every single one of them had something bad to say about her dad. Every single one of them had subtly mentioned something about Karma biting his- _a bad word that I'm not allowed to say, of course _she thought bitterly. Every single one them had negativity. But, not a single one of them had sympathy.

_They didn't understand. _But how will they ever understand? Bailey knew that they only cared about money more than giving out their condolences towards the little girl. She knew that no matter how long, all they care about is gossip and putting other people down.

Another sigh escaped Bailey's wobbly lips, tears finally escaping from her already puffed up eyes. A sob echoed around the room as a pair of sad, brown eyes stared at a picture of Tony Stark. She knew, she couldn't lose him at an early age. She just knew, because she couldn't handle it.

* * *

It's been three months - _three agonising months - _and still no signs of Tony. As usual, Bailey dragged herself out of her room and into the kitchen, her head down as always.

Throughout these three months, the Stark girl went through a series of emotions; at first it was sadness, with the idea of her dad not being able to come back pained her, then it was hope as it neared her birthday, but it drastically turned into anger as the little girl sat in her room, tears flowing down her face on the day of her birthday, knowing fully well her dad broke his promise to come back for her ninth birthday. However, anger turned into sorrow as the belief of her own dad coming back was slowly deteriorating as each day became a full two months. This sorrow quickly turned to defeat as the idea of her dad never coming back was set in stone, supported by the large amount of news reports about him.

Of course, Pepper, Rhodey and Happy were there to look after her, to make sure she was eating the right amount, to make sure she was doing all of her homework that her dad gave her before he left, but every once in a while, they would allow her certain amount of space whilst still being around to comfort her.

Today was like any other day, with Bailey waking up, getting changed, going to the kitchen for breakfast, going to the library to read about whatever she can find, going to the lab to grief like the petty person she is, then back to bed where she blasts AC/DC music as loud as she can, much to Pepper's annoyance.

However, when she got to her dad's lab around lunch time, she was met with Pepper, Happy and Rhodey huddling around each other, whispering to one another. The small brunette tilted her head in curiousity, her eyebrows furrowing as her small feet moved her whole body towards the adult, who were for some reason, still unaware of her presence.

"Rhodey?" The little girl said in a whisper, scaring the three adults. They jumped slightly from the unexpected guest in the room, but when they were met by a pair of innocent Tony-like eyes, their shoulders slumped a bit.

"Yes?" Rhodey knelt down to Bailey's height, offering her a smile.

"What's going on?" The three adults looked at each other, all having a knowing look plastered on their faces, making Bailey's curiousity grow into a childish irritation. Pepper then walked towards the little girl, taking Rhodey's place before giving the exact same smile Rhodey gave to the Stark.

"You'll find out soon." A loud whine echoed around the room as a tantrum was slowly building.

"But I wanna know now!"

"Bail-" A louder whine.

"Now!"

"What's the magic word." A glare was shot at Pepper before a groan escaped the girl's lips.

"Please."

"Now say the whole thing again."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Ugh." The three adults chuckled at Bailey's antics as she crossed her arms and reluctantly responded. "May I know what's going on, _please._" She said, the last word being spoken with a bite.

Pepper looked at Rhodey and Happy with a raised eyebrow, as if to ask them about something, with both of them nodding their head. The ginger-haired woman turned her head back to Bailey.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, turn the news on."

"Gladly, Ms. Potts." A large screen then turned on behind Bailey, a familiar voice was heard.

"And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark International." An uproar was heard in the background, but all Bailey could focus on was the voice of her very own dad.

With wide eyes, she slowly turned around to face a slightly injured looking Tony Stark, a tear escaping and sliding down her cheek. She couldn't believe, she really couldn't. But alas, here he is, alive and well, with the obvious change in mind and perspective.

Bailey turned around to face Pepper again. "He's alive?"

She smiled back at her. "He's alive." A grin then appeared on the little girl's face.

"Stane owes me his position."

"Bailey!"

"Fine- wait, where's Dad?"

"You called?" Bailey's head snapped to the teasing voice, finally facing a bandaged Tony Stark with a smirk on his face as he leaned against the side of the door with his good arm. A wide smile was stretched across her face as she ran towards him, her arms wrapped around his waist as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

Now, she knew, she could handle it.

* * *

"I don't trust Stane."

"You finally believe me, old man?"

"Shush, child." Currently, Tony and Bailey are sitting on her bed with their finished dinner plate on the nightstand as they bicker about Tony's survival and Stane's suspicious denial against taking the Stark Industries out of weapon manufacturing.

It's been a week since Tony's return, and throughout the whole week, both Stark's were having a lovely Father-Daughter catching up time whilst still having a belated mini-birthday celebration over a Star Wars marathon and Baskin Robbins. At first, after Bailey hugged her dad for the first time in three months, she threw a tantrum at him for breaking his promise about coming back home safely and not missing her birthday. It took around a few hours until she finally finished spilling her emotions out before falling asleep straight away in Tony's arm. Luckily, after talking it out when she woke up, Bailey reluctantly accepted his apology for breaking the promise and made him promise again to not break nor make another promise he knows he wouldn't be able to follow through with.

Tony sipped his glass filled with green liquid as he looked at the lit up buildings outside of Bailey's window. His mind has been creating ideas and tinkering with invisible tools ever since he got out of that cave in an iron suit. Bailey yawned, watching her dad taking another sip of the liquid, knowing fully well that his brain was already at work. She sighed at this, bored out of her mind whilst Tony is off in Tinker-land doing who knows what.

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

"Stop thinking."

"Why?"

"I can feel it and it's giving me a headache." He chuckled at her reason, shaking his head before putting his drink on the nightstand.

"Sorry, kid. Didn't mean to bother you with my powerful mind." In response, she giggled, immediately jumping on him and wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He gladly hugged back.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She asked when she pulled away after a minute of comfortable silence. Tony shrugged, not fully knowing how to answer in a way that will not only pitch his idea perfectly, but also allow his nine-year-old daughter to understand what he is saying. _She might be a genius, _Tony thought, _but she's still a kid._

After a few minutes of figuring out on what to say, Tony finally grinned and turned to fully face his daughter.

"What happens if I make a full bodied, metal made, superhero suit?" She blinked a few times at her dad, innocent eyes staring back at tired, yet excited eyes.

Just then, she grinned back, her brown eyes sparkling in the city light. "I'll attack you with a three thousand kisses."

"Only three thousand?"

"Would you rather me giving Stane kisses?"

"...I'll stick to three thousand."

"That's what I thought."


End file.
